Beam reverser module and optical power amplifier having such a beam reverser module

ABSTRACT

A beam reverser module for an optical power amplifier of a laser arrangement comprises at least one reflecting surface for receiving an incoming laser beam propagating in a first direction and reflecting the incoming laser beam into a second direction different from the first direction, wherein the at least one reflecting surface is a highly reflecting surface of at least one mirror.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of, and claims benefit under35 USC 120 to, international application PCT/EP2013/052574, filed Feb.8, 2013. The entire disclosure of international applicationPCT/EP2013/052574 is incorporated by reference herein.

The invention relates to a beam reverser module for an optical poweramplifier of a laser arrangement.

The invention further relates to an optical power amplifier of a laserarrangement, comprising a beam reverser module.

US 2010/0098120 A1 discloses an optical power amplifier of a laserarrangement, in particular an excimer laser. Excimer lasers are a typeof electric discharge gas lasers. For high power applications, suchlasers have a master oscillator/power amplifier or oscillatorconfiguration, wherein the power oscillator can also be configured orreferred to as a power ring amplifier which is also an oscillator. Theterm “optical power amplifier” used in the present description is to beunderstood as covering all these configurations.

The laser arrangement according to US 2010/0098120 A1 is used as a lightsource in semiconductor lithography applications, for example.

One part of the optical power amplifier is the beam reverser module. InUS 2010/0098120 A1, the beam reverser module is designed as a prism,having a laser beam entrance surface through which an incoming laserbeam enters the prism. The prism further has a first total internalreflection (TIR) surface for receiving the laser beam entering the prismand reflecting the laser beam to a second TIR surface which forms anangle of approximately 90° with the first TIR surface. Finally, theprism has a laser beam exit surface through which the laser beamreflected at the second TIR surface emerges from the prism.

There is a demand to manufacture lasers with an increased output power,in particular if used as light sources in semiconductor lithographyapplications. However, if the output power of a laser is to beincreased, for example from 60 W to 120 W, there is the technicalproblem that the power amplifier is subject to an increased thermal loadcaused by increasing absorbed power of the laser beam propagatingthrough the optical elements of the power amplifier.

The increased thermal load on the optical elements of the poweramplifier results in an increased heating of some or all opticalelements of the power amplifier which causes the so-called thermallensing. Thermal lensing is an effect induced by temperature gradientsin optical elements. These temperature gradients can cause sometransverse gradient of the refractive index and/or surface deformationsdue to laterally inhomogeneous thermal expansion or due to opticsbending caused by thermally induced mechanical stresses. Regardlesswhether the heating of an optical element leads to a gradient of therefractive index or to deformations of optical surfaces, the opticalelement changes its optical imaging characteristics which can lead to adeviation or distortion of the wavefront of the laser beam, and in theworst case the laser beam can collapse in the laser far field uponchanging from low to high duty cycle.

In particular, the beam reverser module according to the optical poweramplifier disclosed in US 2010/0098120 A1 is subject to a high thermalload and, accordingly to thermal lensing. For applications at highenergy densities, CaF₂ surfaces have to be coated for protection againstdegradation. It has been found that a modification of a bareCaF₂-surface by coating affects the absorption of a totally reflectedbeam significantly stronger than absorption of a beam passing throughthe surface. So, the inventors found that for TIR the level ofabsorption is strongly underestimated (at least in case of CaF₂), andthe thermally induced deformation of the TIR-surfaces under high opticalload is one of the most relevant contributors to the total thermal driftof laser beam properties. In addition, the prism of the known beamreverser module is comparatively large and bulky so that the opticalpropagation path of the laser beam through the prism is comparativelylong. The long propagation path coincides with an increased absorption,because the absorption is proportional to the optical propagation pathof light through a medium.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a beamreverser module for an optical power amplifier of a laser arrangementwhich at least reduces the thermal lensing occurring in the known beamreverser module, if high power output of the laser is required.

According to a first aspect of the invention, this object is achieved bya beam reverser module for an optical power amplifier of a laserarrangement, comprising at least one reflecting surface for receiving anincoming laser beam propagating in a first direction and reflecting theincoming laser beam into a second direction different from the firstdirection, wherein the at least one reflecting surface is a highlyreflecting surface of a first mirror.

The beam reverser module according to this aspect of the invention doesnot use a TIR surface for reversing the laser beam, but uses at leastone high reflection mirror which substitutes at least one of the TIRsurfaces of the known beam reverser module.

The high absorption at the TIR surfaces leads to a large thermalgradient which introduces a thermally induced deformation of thereflecting surface, and accordingly, a wave front deformation of thelaser beam. By replacing the TIR surfaces of the known beam reversermodule with at least one highly reflecting mirror, thermal lensing canbe reduced.

In a preferred refinement, the beam reverser module further comprises adownstream beam deflecting element arranged downstream of the at leastone reflecting surface, which deflects the laser beam reflected at theat least one reflecting surface into a third direction different fromthe first and the second directions such that the laser beam deflectedat the beam deflecting element intersects the laser beam propagating inthe first direction.

By virtue of the downstream beam deflecting element, the same opticalfunctionality as in case of the known beams reverser module can beobtained, but with less risk of thermal lensing than in case of theknown beam reverser module.

In the context of the afore-mentioned refinement, it is furtherpreferred if the downstream beam deflecting element is a transmittingoptical element having an entrance surface and an exit surface, thetransmitting optical element being arranged with respect to the laserbeam reflected at the at least one reflecting surface such that thelaser beam propagates through the transmitting optical element from theentrance surface to the exit surface without total internal reflection.

This refinement is in accordance with the inventive idea to avoid TIRsurfaces in the beam reverser module as far as possible, preferablycompletely, in order to avoid or at least reduce thermal lensing in thebeam reverser module.

Further in the context with the afore-mentioned refinement, the entrancesurface and/or the exit surface is/are coated with an anti-reflectivecoating.

The anti-reflective coating reduces laser light losses due to reflectionat the entrance surface and/or exit surface of the transmitting beamdeflecting element.

In a further preferred refinement, the downstream beam deflectingelement is a prism.

This refinement has the advantage of a simple design with respect tomanufacturing of the beam deflecting element.

In a further preferred refinement, the beam reverser module furthercomprises an upstream beam deflecting element arranged upstream of theat least one reflecting surface, which deflects the incoming beam intothe first direction.

The upstream beam deflecting element can be used instead of or inaddition to the down stream beam deflecting element.

As in the case of the downstream beam deflecting element, the upstreambeam deflecting element preferably is a transmitting optical elementhaving an entrance surface and an exit surface, the transmitting opticalelement being arranged with respect to the incoming laser beam such thatthe laser beam propagates through the transmitting optical element fromthe entrance surface to the exit surface without total internalreflection.

Further, the entrance surface and/or the exit surface of thetransmitting optical element of the upstream beam deflecting elementis/are coated with an anti-reflective coating.

The upstream beam deflecting element preferably is a prism.

In a further preferred refinement, the upstream beam deflecting elementand the downstream beam deflecting element are together embodied as asingle monolithic optical element, preferably as a single prism.

This refinement has the advantage that both, the upstream beamdeflecting element and the downstream beam deflecting element can besimply manufactured as one single prism.

In a further preferred refinement, the at least one reflecting surfaceis a first reflecting surface, and the beam reverser module furthercomprises at least one second reflecting surface receiving the laserbeam reflected at the first reflecting surface and reflecting the laserbeam into a direction different from the first direction, wherein the atleast one second reflective surface is a highly reflective surface of atleast one second mirror.

In this refinement, both TIR surfaces of the known beam reverser moduleare replaced with highly reflecting mirror surfaces, thus furtherreducing thermal lensing. This refinement further renders it possible todispense with the downstream beam deflecting element and/or the upstreambeam deflecting element, because, as provided in a further preferredrefinement, the first and the at least one second reflective surface canbe arranged to form an angle with one another which is set such that thelaser beam reflected at the at least one second reflective surfaceintersects the incoming laser beam, as it is the case with the knownbeam reverser module.

In the context of the afore-mentioned refinement, the first and the atleast one second mirror are optically bonded on a base plate whichdefines the angle the first and the at least one second reflectivesurface form with one another.

In a further preferred refinement, the afore-mentioned angle is set in arange from about 85° to about 95°, preferably set to about 90°.

Further, it is preferred, if the first mirror and the second mirror arearranged such that the laser beam impinges on the first and the at leastone second reflecting surface at an angle of incidence in a range fromabout 40° to about 50°, preferably at an angle of incidence of about45°.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the object underlying theinvention is achieved by providing a beam reverser module for an opticalpower amplifier of a laser arrangement, comprising a prism having alaser beam entrance surface through which an incoming laser beam entersthe prism, a first TIR surface for receiving the laser beam entering theprism, a second TIR surface for receiving the laser beam reflected atthe first TIR surface, the second TIR surface and the first TIR surfaceforming an angle greater than 60° with one another, and a laser beamexit surface through which the laser beam reflected at the second TIRsurface emerges from the prism, wherein the entrance surface is arrangedwith respect to the incoming laser beam such that the angle of incidenceof the incoming laser beam is greater than the Brewster angle so thatthe laser beam propagates through the prism with an increased beamwidth.

According to this aspect of the invention, the beam reverser modulecomprises a prism as it is the case with the known beam reverser module.However, the prism of the known beam reverser module is arranged withrespect to the incoming beam such that the angle of incidence is equalto the Brewster angle (according to the wavelength of the laser light),while in the beam reverser module according to this aspect of theinvention the angle of incidence is greater than the Brewster angle sothat the laser beam propagates through the prism with an increased beamwidth in comparison with the beam width of the laser light propagatingto the prism of the known beam reverser module.

By increasing the internal beam width of the laser beam propagatingthrough the prism, energy densities and the gradients of the thermalload on the TIR surfaces can be reduced, thus reducing the risk ofthermal lensing.

Further, it is preferred if the entrance surface and/or the exit surfaceof the prism is coated with an HLD (High Laser Durability)anti-reflective coating.

In a further preferred refinement, the first and second total internalreflection surfaces have surface protection coatings changing theE-field conditions on these surfaces in a way that minimizes surfaceabsorption.

Another measure to improve the beam reverser module according to thisaspect of the invention is to reduce the thickness of the prism in orderto reduce the optical propagation path of the laser beam through theprism.

A further refinement of this aspect of the invention provides that theprism is made of CaF₂ with a linear laser induced absorption coefficientof less than 0.2×10⁻⁴ cm/mJ.

In a further preferred refinement which can be used in connection withthe beam reverser module according to the first aspect as well as inconnection with the beam reverser module according to the second aspect,the beam reverser module further comprises a purge device adapted topurge at least one of the optical elements of the beam reverser moduledirectly and with a purge rate which varies over the surface of theoptical element in accordance with the position of the laser beam on orin this optical element.

This refinement provides a further measure for reducing thermal lensingby reducing thermal gradients on or in optical elements of the beamreverser module. For example, the upstream beam deflecting elementand/or the downstream beam deflecting element according to the firstaspect of the invention or the beam reverser prism according to thesecond aspect of the invention are only partially used by the laser beamleading to the above-explained thermal gradients in these opticalelements. By purging these optical elements with a purge rate whichvaries over the surface of the optical element in accordance with theposition of the laser beam on or in this optical element, thermalgradients in the optical elements can be reduced. Accordingly, the purgerate is set to be higher at ‘hot sites’ of the optical element whichcorrespond to portions of the optical element which are traversed by thelaser beam, and the purge rate is lower at ‘cold sites’ of the opticalelement which correspond to locations which are not traversed by thelaser beam or where the intensity of the laser beam is low.

An optical amplifier of a laser arrangement according to the inventioncomprises a beam reverser module according to the first aspect of theinvention or according to the second aspect of the invention and/oraccording to any of the above-described refinements.

Further features and advantages will become apparent from the followingdescription and the accompanying drawings.

It is to be understood that the features mentioned above and those stillto be explained below can be used not only in the given combinations,but also in other combinations or in isolation, without departing fromthe scope of the invention.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are described below withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows an optical power amplifier as part of a laser arrangementand according the prior art;

FIG. 2 shows an optical element of a beam reverser module of the opticalpower amplifier in FIG. 1 in isolation and in enlarged scale withrespect to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a first embodiment of a beam reverser module for use in theoptical power amplifier in FIG. 1 instead of the beam reverser moduleshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of a beam reverser module for use inthe optical power amplifier in FIG. 1 instead of the beam reversermodule shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 shows a further embodiment of a beam reverser module for use inthe optical power amplifier in FIG. 1 instead of the beam reversermodule shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 shows the optical element in FIG. 2 for explaining modificationsof the optical element in FIG. 2 for use in the optical power amplifierin FIG. 1 instead of the beam reverser module shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 shows a purge device for purging an optical element; and

FIG. 8 shows a diagram illustrating the spatial dependency of the purgerate delivered by the purge device in FIG. 7.

FIG. 1 shows an optical power amplifier generally labelled withreference numeral 10 according to the prior art as described in US2010/0098120 A1 which is hereby incorporated by reference in the presentapplication for further explanations.

The optical power amplifier 10 forms part of a laser arrangement,wherein other parts of the laser arrangement, for example a masteroscillator or seed laser are not shown in the drawings.

The optical power amplifier 10 comprises a beam reverser module 12, apower amplifier chamber 14 and an optical unit 16 for laser beamexpanding and out-coupling. In more detail, the optical unit 16comprises three prisms 18, 20, and 22, a folding mirror 24 and anout-coupling mirror 26.

A laser beam 28 which is fed into the optical power amplifieroriginating from a master oscillator or seed laser (not shown)circulates in the optical power amplifier 10, wherein poweramplification occurs in the power amplifier chamber 14 which contains alaser active medium, like a gas, for example ArF or KrF.

The laser beam 28 when circulating in the optical power amplifier 10 isreversed in the beam reverser module 12 which forms one end of theoptical power amplifier 10.

The beam reverser module 12 according to US 2010/0098120 A1 comprises abeam reverser prism 30 having a laser beam entrance surface 38 throughwhich the incoming laser beam 28 a enters the prism 30, a first totalinternal reflection (TIR) surface 36 for receiving the laser beam 28after having entered the prism 30, a second TIR surface 34 for receivingthe laser beam 28 reflected at the first TIR surface 36, wherein thefirst TIR surface 36 and the second TIR surface 34 form an angle ofabout 90° or slightly less than 90°. The laser beam 28 reflected at thesecond TIR surface 34 then emerges from a laser beam exit surface 32which, in the present case, coincides with the laser entrance surface38. The incoming laser beam 28 a and the emerging laser beam 28 bintersect at an intersection 39 in the power amplifier chamber 14.

FIG. 2 shows the beam reverser prism 30 in isolation and in an enlargedscale.

A metrology set-up has been established to measure the absorption ofoptical surfaces due to surface coating. This method can detect both,transmissive (bulk) and TIR absorption at an optical surface of laserlight on an absorption level <0.01%. When measuring the surfaceabsorption of the beam reverser prism 30 under TIR condition, asignificantly higher increase of absorption has been found compared towhen measured under transmission. This leads in case of optics workingwith TIR to a large thermal gradient introducing a thermal lens in thewave front.

In the following, embodiments of beam reverser modules will be describedwhich remedy the detrimental effect of thermal lensing occurring in theknown beam reverser prism 30.

The beam reverser modules described below can be used instead of thebeam reverser module 12 in the optical power amplifier 10 in FIG. 1,i.e. the beam reverser modules described below are designed such thatthey have the same optical functionality in terms of beam reversing anddirecting.

Some of the embodiments of the beam reverser module described below arebased on a new design where the beam reverser prism 30 is replaced withother optical elements, and some embodiments of a beam reverser moduledescribed below are modifications of the beam reverser prism 30.

FIG. 3 shows a first embodiment of a beam reverser module 40 where thebeam reverser prism 30 in FIG. 1 is replaced by two optical elements. Afirst optical element is a mirror 42 having a highly reflecting surface44.

The beam reverser module 40 further comprises a downstream beamdeflecting element 46 which is configured as a prism 48.

The incoming light beam 28 a which propagates in a first direction isreceived by the highly reflecting surface 44 of the mirror 42 andreflected at the highly reflecting surface 44 into a second directionaccording to the reflected laser beam 28 b. The reflected laser beam 28b is redirected or deflected by the downstream beam deflecting element46 into a third direction according to a deflected laser beam 28 c. Thepropagation direction of the deflected laser beam 28 c is such that thedeflected laser beam 28 c intersects the incoming laser beam 28 a asshown in FIG. 3 in order to meet the optical functionality shown in FIG.1 according to which there is a laser beam intersection 39 in the poweramplifier chamber 14.

The downstream deflecting element is a transmitting optical elementhaving an entrance surface 50 and an exit surface 52, and as shown inFIG. 3, the downstream beam deflecting element 46 is arranged withrespect to the laser beam 28 b reflected at the highly reflectingsurface 44 of the mirror 42 such that the laser beam 28 b propagatesthrough the prism 48 from the entrance surface 50 to the exit surface 52without TIR.

With the beam reverser module 40, the TIR surfaces 34 and 36 of the beamreverser prism 30 are dispensed with, so that TIR absorption no longeris an issue. Further, the prism 48 of the downstream beam deflectingelement 46 has a small thickness whereby the optical propagation path ofthe laser beam 28 b through the prism 48 is comparatively small so thatlaser induced absorption is also highly decreased in comparison with thelong optical propagation path through the beam reverser prism 30.

Thus, thermal lensing is highly reduced or even avoided when using thebeam reverser module 40 instead of the beam reverser module 12 in theoptical power amplifier 10 in FIG. 1.

The entrance surface 50 and the exit surface 52 are coated with ananti-reflective coating in order to reduce reflection losses at thesesurfaces.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of a beam reverser module 60 which is amodification of the beam reverser module 40 in FIG. 3.

The beam reverser module 60 comprises a mirror 62 having a highlyreflecting surface 64.

The beam reverser module 60 further comprises a downstream beamdeflecting element 66 and an upstream beam deflecting element 68. Whileit would be possible to provide separate optical elements for thedownstream beam deflecting element 66 and the upstream beam deflectingelement 68, in particular as separate prisms, in the present design theupstream beam deflecting element 68 and the downstream beam deflectingelement 66 are together embodiment as a single monolithic opticalelement, in the present case as a single prism 70.

The upstream beam deflecting element 68 has an entrance surface 72 andan exit surface 74, and the downstream beam deflecting element 66 has anentrance surface 76 and an exit surface 78, wherein the exit surface 74and the entrance surface 76 are formed by the same surface of the prism70.

The upstream beam deflecting element 68 is a transmitting opticalelement, wherein the incoming laser beam 28 propagates through theupstream beam deflecting element 68 from the entrance surface 72 to theexit surface 74 without TIR.

The surfaces 72, 74, 76, 78 are coated with an anti-reflective coatingin order to minimize reflection losses.

The incoming laser beam 28 is deflected by the upstream beam deflectingelement 68 into the first direction according to the laser beam 28 a.The laser beam 28 a is reflected by the highly reflecting surface 64into the second direction according to the laser beam 28 b, which isthen deflected into the third direction according to the laser beam 28 csuch that the laser beam 28 c intersects the incoming laser beam 28.

The advantages of the beam reverser module 60 in term of reducing oreven avoiding thermal lensing are comparable with the advantages of thebeam reverser module 40.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of a beam reverser module 80 whichdiffers from the beam reverser modules 40 and 60 in that the beamreverser module 80 comprises a first mirror 82 and a second mirror 84.The first mirror 82 has a highly reflecting surface 86, and the secondmirror 84 has a highly reflective surface 88. The reflecting surfaces 86and 88 replace the TIR surfaces 34 and 36 in the beam reverser module 12in FIG. 1.

The incoming laser beam 28 a is reflected at the reflecting surface 86and directed to the reflecting surface 88 and leaves the beam reversermodule 80 as the laser beam 28 c.

The reflecting surface 86 and the reflecting surface 88 form an angle 90with one another which is set such that the laser beam 28 b reflected atthe reflecting surface 88 intersects the incoming laser beam 28 a.

In the specific embodiment, the mirrors 82 and 84 are optically bondedon a base plate 92 which defines the angle 90 by virtue of the fact thatthe base plate 92 is designed with two sides 94, 96 forming an angle 98with one another which defines the angle 90.

The angle 90 is set in a range from about 85° to about 95°.

The mirrors 82 and 84 are arranged with respect to the incoming laserbeam 28 a such that the laser beam 28 a impinges on the reflectingsurface 86 at an angle of incidence in a range from about 40° to about50°, preferably at an angle of incidence of about 45°. The laser beam 28b reflected at the reflecting surface 86 impinges on the reflectingsurface 88 at an angle of incidence in a range from about 40° to about50°, preferably at an angle of incidence of about 45°.

In the following, another embodiment of a beam reverser module will bedescribed which is a modification of the known beam reverser prism 30 inFIG. 1.

FIG. 6 shows a beam reverser module 100 comprising a prism 102 as in thecase of the beam reverser module 12 in FIG. 1.

The prism 102 has a laser beam entrance surface 104, a first TIR surface106, a second TIR surface 108 and a laser beam exit surface 110 whichcoincides with the laser beam entrance surface 104.

The TIR surfaces 106 and 108 form an angle 112 greater than 60° with oneanother, wherein the angle 112 is about 90° in the embodiment shown inFIG. 6.

In order to decrease or avoid thermal lensing, the following measuresare to be taken into account.

One measure is to arrange the entrance surface 104 with respect to theincoming laser beam 28 a such that the angle of incidence 114 is greaterthan the Brewster angle whereby the beam width of the laser beam whenpropagating through the prism 102 is increased. An increased beam widthwithin the prism 102 can reduce the thermal load on the TIR surfaces 106and 108. The entrance surface 104 should be coated with an HLD (HighLaser Durability) anti-reflective coating, because reflection of thep-polarized light at the entrance surface is no longer suppressed forangles of incidence larger than the Brewster angle.

Another measure to reduce TIR absorption at the TIR surfaces 106, 108consists in changing the E-field conditions on the TIR surfaces 106, 108by appropriate coatings which minimize the E-field on CaF₂.

A further measure to reduce thermal lensing is to use CaF₂ for thematerial of the prism 102 which has a linear laser induced absorptioncoefficient less than 0.2×10⁻⁴ cm/mJ.

FIG. 7 shows again the optical element 100 in FIG. 6A purging device 134is arranged to directly purge the optical element 100 with a purgingmedium, for example a purging gas 136, 138. The purging device 134 isadapted to purge the optical element 100 with a purge rate which isdependent on the position 140, 142 of the laser beam when impinging onthe TIR-surfaces 106, 108 of the optical element 100. Arrows 146, 148illustrate the local purge rate in dependence on the position of thelaser beam. The purge rage is highest at the position 140, 142 of thelaser beam and decreases on sites of the optical element 100 outside theposition 140, 142 of the laser beam.

FIG. 8 illustrates the dependency of the purge rate PR on the positionPOS on the optical element 100.

It is to be understood that the measures described with reference toFIGS. 7 and 8 for reducing or avoiding thermal lensing can be combinedwith the embodiments and measures described with respect to FIGS. 3through 5.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A module, comprising: a mirror comprising ahighly reflective surface configured to: a) receive a laser beampropagating in a first direction; and b) reflect the laser beam into asecond direction different from the first direction; and a first beamdeflecting element downstream of the highly reflective surface along apath of the laser beam, wherein: the first beam deflecting element isconfigured to deflect the laser beam into a third direction which isdifferent from the first and the second directions so that the laserbeam deflected at the first beam deflecting element intersects the laserbeam propagating in the first direction; the module is configured sothat the laser beam exits the module while propagating along the thirddirection; the first beam deflecting element is transmissive to thelaser beam; the first beam deflecting element comprises a prism; and themodule is a beam reverser module.
 2. The module of claim 1, wherein: thefirst beam deflecting element comprises an entrance surface and an exitsurface; and the first beam deflecting element is configured so that,during use of the module, the laser beam propagates through the firstbeam deflecting element from the entrance surface of the first beamdeflecting element to the exit surface of the first beam deflectingelement without total internal reflection.
 3. The module of claim 2,wherein at least one surface selected from the group consisting of theentrance surface of the first beam deflecting element and the exitsurface of the first beam deflecting element comprises a high laserdurability anti-reflective coating.
 4. A module, comprising: a mirrorcomprising a highly reflective surface configured to: a) receive a laserbeam propagating in a first direction; and b) reflect the laser beaminto a second direction different from the first direction; a first beamdeflecting element downstream of the highly reflective surface along apath of the laser beam; and a second beam deflecting element upstream ofthe highly reflective coating along the path of the laser beam, wherein:the first beam deflecting element is configured to deflect the laserbeam into a third direction which is different from the first and thesecond directions so that the laser beam deflected at the first beamdeflecting element intersects the laser beam propagating in the firstdirection; the module is configured so that the laser beam exits themodule while propagating along the third direction; the first beamdeflecting element is transmissive to the laser beam; and the module isa beam reverser module.
 5. The module of claim 4, wherein: the secondbeam deflecting element comprises an entrance surface and an exitsurface; and the second beam deflecting element is configured so that,during use of the module, the laser beam propagates through the secondbeam deflecting element from the entrance surface of the second beamdeflecting element to the exit surface of the second beam deflectingelement without total internal reflection.
 6. The module of claim 5,wherein at least one surface selected from the group consisting of theentrance surface of the second beam deflecting element and the exitsurface of the second beam deflecting element comprises ananti-reflective coating.
 7. The module of claim 4, wherein the secondbeam deflecting element comprises a prism.
 8. The module of claim 4,wherein the first and second beam deflecting elements comprise a singlemonolithic optical element.
 9. The module of claim 4, wherein the firstand second beam deflecting elements comprise a single monolithic prism.10. The module of claim 4, further comprising a purge device configuredto directly purge at least one of the optical elements of the modulewith a purge rate that varies over a surface of the optical element inaccordance with a position of the laser beam on or in the opticalelement, wherein the purge device is configured to purge the first totalinternal reflection surface.
 11. A module, comprising: a mirrorcomprising a highly reflective surface configured to: a) receive a laserbeam propagating in a first direction; and b) reflect the laser beaminto a second direction different from the first direction; and a purgedevice configured to directly purge at least one of the optical elementsof the module with a purge rate that varies over a surface of theoptical element in accordance with a position of the laser beam on or inthe optical element.
 12. An amplifier, comprising: a beam reversermodule; a power amplifier chamber; and an optical unit, wherein: thepower amplifier comprises an active medium for a laser beam; the beamreverser comprises a mirror comprising a highly reflective surfaceconfigured to: a) receive the laser beam from the power amplifierpropagating in a first direction; and b) reflect the laser beam into asecond direction different from the first direction so that laser beamreturns to the power amplifier; during use of the amplifier, the opticalunit expands the laser beam and outcouples the laser beam; and theamplifier is an optical amplifier.
 13. The module of claim 1, wherein,during use of the module, the laser beam propagates through the firstbeam deflecting element without total internal reflection.
 14. Themodule of claim 8, wherein the second beam deflecting element istransmissive to the laser beam.
 15. The amplifier of claim 12, wherein,during use of the module, the laser beam propagates through the firstbeam deflecting element without total internal reflection.
 16. Theamplifier of claim 12, wherein: the first beam deflecting elementcomprises an entrance surface and an exit surface; and the first beamdeflecting element is configured so that, during use of the amplifier,the laser beam propagates through the first beam deflecting element fromthe entrance surface of the first beam deflecting element to the exitsurface of the first beam deflecting element without total internalreflection.
 17. The amplifier of claim 16, wherein at least one surfaceselected from the group consisting of the entrance surface of the firstbeam deflecting element and the exit surface of the first beamdeflecting element comprises a high laser durability anti-reflectivecoating.
 18. The amplifier of claim 12, wherein the first beamdeflecting element comprises a prism.
 19. The amplifier of claim 12,further comprising a second beam deflecting element upstream of thehighly reflective coating along the path of the laser beam.
 20. Theamplifier of claim 19, wherein: the second beam deflecting elementcomprises an entrance surface and an exit surface; and the second beamdeflecting element is configured so that, during use of the amplifier,the laser beam propagates through the second beam deflecting elementfrom the entrance surface of the second beam deflecting element to theexit surface of the second beam deflecting element without totalinternal reflection.
 21. The amplifier of claim 20, wherein at least onesurface selected from the group consisting of the entrance surface ofthe second beam deflecting element and the exit surface of the secondbeam deflecting element comprises an anti-reflective coating.
 22. Theamplifier of claim 19, wherein the second beam deflecting elementcomprises a prism.
 23. The amplifier of claim 19, wherein the first andsecond beam deflecting elements comprise a single monolithic opticalelement.
 24. The amplifier of claim 19, wherein the first and secondbeam deflecting elements comprise a single monolithic prism.
 25. Theamplifier of claim 19, further comprising a purge device configured todirectly purge at least one of the optical elements of the module with apurge rate that varies over a surface of the optical element inaccordance with a position of the laser beam on or in the opticalelement, wherein the purge device is configured to purge the first totalinternal reflection surface.
 26. The amplifier of claim 12, furthercomprising a purge device configured to directly purge at least one ofthe optical elements of the module with a purge rate that varies over asurface of the optical element in accordance with a position of thelaser beam on or in the optical element, wherein the purge device isconfigured to purge the first total internal reflection surface.